CABLE THEFT CASE ENDS IN PLEAS

Ron Mogel, a Fort Lauderdale man accused of selling converter boxes that could be used to steal cable TV service, pleaded no contest to two charges Friday and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

But the pleas won't result in any additional jail time for Mogel because Broward Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda made the sentence concurrent with a 150- day term Mogel currently is serving.

During a hearing, Mogel, 43, unexpectedly entered the pleas to a charge of aiding and abetting a grand theft and a charge of larceny of cable television service, after he had rejected earlier plea offers.

Korda withheld adjudication of guilt on the charges, meaning the pleas won't be entered on his criminal record as felony convictions.

But Mogel was declared a felon two months ago, after he was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to 150 days in jail and two years of community control, a strict form of probation.

Mogel has served nearly 70 days of that sentence so far in the Broward County Jail, according to Assistant State Attorney John Frusciante.

"Given the lack of the defendant's previous arrest record, but considering the importance of the charges, it was a firm but fair sentence," the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Stuart Stein said Mogel entered the pleas because even though Mogel maintains that what he did was legal, the cost of a time- consuming trial was too great.

"We made an economic decision to plead no contest," Stein said. "He can't deal in the electronics business until we move these cases along and resolve them. He can't earn a living."

Mogel has also filed an appeal, claiming that police conducted an improper search when they found the cocaine and about 1,000 of the converter boxes Mogel had stored in Fort Lauderdale.

Stein said that if the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach rules in Mogel's favor, his criminal record would be wiped clean, even though he will have already served his time in jail.

Storer Communications, a cable TV company, was instrumental in having Mogel arrested last October, after he was seen selling the converter boxes for $175 to $250 at the Thunderbird Swap Shop near Fort Lauderdale.

The Broward Sheriff's Office contended at the time that Mogel and an installer were knowingly equipping people's homes, so they could get cable TV channels without paying the monthly service charge.

The 1,000 converter boxes, which Mogel valued at $250,000, were seized by police. Mogel has given up any hope of ever getting them back, according to Stein.

"The thing to remember is that it is legal to buy these converters. You just have to tell your cable company you have one," Stein said.